Syrian forces killed at least one civilian and injured 20 in Homs on Monday during the heaviest raids on the city since troops deployed there two months ago to crush dissent against President Bashar al-Assad, residents said.

BAGHDAD — Bombs hidden in plastic bags near a falafel stand exploded at a market in a mainly Shiite area in Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least eight civilians and wounding 21, Iraqi officials said. It was the latest in a series of bombings targeting Shiites and minorities in the capital and northern Iraq.

The U.S. military has said insurgents are trying to re-ignite sectarian bloodshed that pushed the country to the brink of civil war but Shiites so far have shown restraint.

The bags packed with explosives were left among a pile of garbage and exploded shortly before 8 p.m. as the district was crowded with people enjoying the evening.

Several nearby stores were also damaged, according to police and hospital officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release the information. Five children were among the wounded, they said. (more…)

BAGHDAD, Aug 16 (Reuters) – At least six people were killed when two bombs exploded at a popular restaurant in a predominantly Shi’ite Muslim neighbourhood of eastern Baghdad on Sunday, Iraqi police said.Around 18 people were wounded when the two bombs planted inside and outside of the restaurant exploded almost simultaneously, police said.

A string of bombings since U.S. forces withdrew from Iraqi cities at the end of June has called into question the ability of Iraqi security forces to protect the population from attacks by insurgents like Sunni militant group al Qaeda. (more…)

BAGHDAD, Aug. 13 — Two suicide bombers killed at least 21 people in a cafe in northern Iraq on Thursday, Iraqi officials said, in the latest attack targeting ethnic or religious minorities in disputed territories.

The double bombing occurred about 5 p.m. in the Ayoub coffeehouse in Sinjar, a town about 240 miles northwest of Baghdad. Most of the victims were Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking religious minority. At least 30 people were wounded.

The attack, like other recent bombings, appeared intended to exacerbate tensions along a 300-mile stretch of disputed territory near the Kurdish north, pitting the Kurdish autonomous government against Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s administration in Baghdad. (more…)

Aug 11 (Reuters) – Following are security developments in Iraq at 1900 GMT on Tuesday.

* Denotes a new or updated item

* BAGHDAD – Two car bombs exploded in al-Ameen, a mostly Shi’ite Muslim district of Baghdad, killing eight people and wounding 30, police said. Iraqi security forces discovered a roadside bomb in the same area and detonated it.

BAGHDAD – A bomb in a parked car wounded nine civilians when it exploded at a market in the north Baghdad district of Shaab, police said.

BAGHDAD – A car bomb wounded four civilians in the south Baghdad district of Doura, police said.

BAGHDAD — The entire village was gone. Local television broadcast scenes of homes reduced to heaps of rubble mixed with bed frames, mattresses, furniture and bloodstained pillows. A villager cried into the camera, “Look, Mr. Prime Minister and Mr. Interior Minister, where is the security that you speak about?”

The latest wave of sectarian bombings struck northern Iraq and Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 50 people, wounding hundreds more and leveling the village, near Mosul.

Nearly 100 people in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul have been killed in attacks since Friday, raising grave concerns about the Iraqi government’s ability to maintain security.

The string of attacks, the most serious since June 30, when Iraqis officially took the lead on national security and American troops largely withdrew to their bases, also highlighted the underlying conflicts that continue to fuel violence. These include the rift between Arab and Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq and the continued disenfranchisement felt by many Sunni Arabs who remain unreconciled with the Shiite-led central government.

In the most devastating attack on Monday, a pair of large flatbed trucks packed with bombs exploded simultaneously shortly after dawn, destroying a village known as Khazna, about 10 miles east of Mosul, according to Munthir Saba, an official in Bartella, an adjacent town.

Most villagers were asleep at the time, many of them on their rooftops in the summer heat.

Hospital officials in Mosul said at least 28 people had been killed and 155 wounded, but Mr. Saba said the casualty figures could increase because rescue efforts were continuing. Qusay Abbas, a provincial council member, put the toll at 43 dead and 220 wounded. (more…)